Barack's worst speech ever

But what is the “it” that needs to be addressed.
There is a tendency to blame today’s unemployment and economic
stagnation on technology. Last Monday, for instance, Paul Krugman blamed
much of Detroit’s problem on changing technology of auto-making. He did
not mention unionization’s role – and the decision by carmakers to
shift production to non-unionized sites with much lower workerbenefits
than the UAW had won over the years. It was as if unionized labor were
itself technologically obsolete.Nor did Obama’s setting the economic stage by focusing on global
competition and technology acknowledge the role of debt in raising the
price of labor. How can American industry compete when some 40% of the
salaries it pays its employees must be paid for housing, 10 percent more
for credit-card and other bank debt, 15% for FICA wage withholding for
Social Security and Medicare, and 15% more for income tax withholding
and for sales taxes? Before employees can start buying the goods and
services they produce, they must spend about three-quarters of their
income on the Finance, Insurance and Real Estate (FIRE) sector and taxes
that have been shifted onto their shoulders?Meanwhile, the companies themselves have been managed by financial
officers whose idea of making money has been to debt-leverage, so that
more and more cash flow has been used to pay back bondholders and to buy
up company stock (thereby increase the value of the stock options that
the managers give themselves), instead of to reinvest inexpanding the
business at home?
Of the speech, Dean Baker (CEPR) observes, "So families did have a bit more money in 2007 than they did in 1979, but
they had increased their work hours by almost as much. And of course
there are work related expenses (e.g. child care, transportation,
clothing) that likely ate up a very large share of the increase in money
income for these families." Andre Damon and Barry Grey (WSWS) call out the speech for its lack of proposals and lack of reality:

Obama did not advance a single serious proposal to address the mass
unemployment, rising poverty and increasing social desperation facing
tens of millions of Americans. He had nothing to offer the 900 workers
who lost their jobs when a Maytag refrigerator plant in the town
announced it was closing in 2004. A Knox College study of what happened
to the Maytag workers found that six years after the closure, their
median household income had fallen by $10,000.Just the fact that
Obama failed to even mention the bankruptcy of Detroit, which is being
used to destroy workers’ pensions and health benefits, exposed the
cynical and dishonest character of the speech.In this event as in
every other, Obama and his advisers proceed from the assumption that
the American people are infinitely gullible and ignorant. They think
that the White House can reject any aid to Detroit one day, after having
provided trillions of dollars to bail out the banks, and the next day
posture as the advocate of the common people.

It was an awful speech which promised little and will deliver nothing.

Thursday, July 25, 2013. Chaos and violence continue, a new report
asserts Nouri is contemplating martial law and more, some in Parliament
want to initiate a protective government, Ed Snowden remains in Russia,
the poll about the huge shift is actually a poll revealing no real shift
and no real poll, some members of the US Congress try to end the
illegal spying while others embrace it, and more.

The Press Trust of India notes,
""The US is not asking for 'extradition', but simply the return of Mr
Snowden. We have sent many people back to Russia," ambassador Michael
McFaul wrote on Twitter." Michal McFaul is an idiot who is openly
hostile to Russia and has been for decades so it's another one of
Barack's failed appointments. Extradition is the term. "Return" is not
the term. McFaul is not only an idiot, he's also a liar (a fairly
common trait, many would say, among those who were Hoover Institute
fellows). He knows the difference. Ed Snowden is in another country
and the US government wants him in the US to charge him with crimes.
Russia is being asked to participate in extradition. Just because
McFaul is one of the few ambassadors Barack's appointed who didn't buy his seat doesn't mean that he has integrity.

Snowden is whistle-blower Ed Snowden who remains trapped in a Russian
airport as an elderly man mocks him on TV, as outlets claim the American
public is turning against him and as the US Senate contemplates
measures against Russia. What is going on?

An elderly man mocks him? David Letterman, the true definition of ass
-- actually the true definition of ass with nose hair. Up close, David
Letterman's nose hair is probably his most distinguished characteristic
and, no, that's not a plus. Last night the angry, bitter and, yes,
highly sexist, talk show host decided the thing to do was a skit mocking
Ed Snowden (again mocking, actually). That's because David is
incredibly stupid. That's why women have long complained about their
treatment on his show and why CBS is eager to move Letterman to the
door. Long after he's forgotten -- and he's no Johnny Carson -- Ed
Snowden's revelations will have still made a difference and maybe that's
what pisses Dave off the most these days? No, what pisses him off the
most is that his staid and dull CBS program is a lousy way to end the
career especially when compared to NBC's Late Night with David Letterman -- a program that actually found him offering some cultural significance. But that's when Merrill Markoe
was in charge of the smiling creation known as "Dave" and not the hack
writers Letterman pays on the cheap these days. Today, tired, old
Letterman has all the significance and cachet of Shecky Greene.
Attacking Ed Snowden in skits only ensures that he fades all the
quicker.

The US Senate isn't fading away anytime soon ("sadly," some may add). But Press TV reports
they're "considering possible trade sanctions against Russia" should it
grant asylum to Ed Snowden. Having failed at his efforts to kill the
Winter Olympics, Senator Lindsey Graham is now pushing this because,
clearly, nothing matters more to the citizens of South Carolina than
this issue. See, things are perfect in South Carolina and -- Oh, wait, unemployment has gone up. Well, at least your seat is safe and -- Oh, wait. David Sherfinski (Washington Times) reports
that a significant conservative challenge is mounting against you for
the 2014 GOP primary. Well, at least you'll be known as the senator
obsessed with Russia. Certainly, the unemployed and those fearful of
becoming unemployed will be thrilled with your focus on that. Reuters reports, "A US Senate panel voted unanimously Thursday to seek trade or other
sanctions against Russia or any other country that offers asylum to
Edward Snowden. The 30-member Senate Appropriations Committee adopted by
consensus an amendment to a spending bill that would direct Secretary
of State John Kerry to meet with congressional committees to come up
with sanctions against any country that takes Snowden in."

Which brings us to the poll. After weeks and weeks of attacks from
MSNBC (and Letterman), ABC and the Washington Post want to do a new poll
and how it was shopped around, the results. Or, if you know a damn
thing about polling, the 'results.' I really hoped someone else would
do the work this time but we can only wait so long.

Question 13 is the one that everyone's zoomed in on. Well, no, they
haven't. That would require work. They've zoomed in on what has been
billed as the results of the poll but it's question 13. The false claim
is presented by Jon Cohen and Dan Balz (Washington Post) when they insist,
"In the new poll, 53 percent say Snowden should be charged with a
crime, up 10 percentage points in a month." They at least fail to lead
with that -- probably because they realize it's trumped up and not
reality. Gary Langer (ABC News) opens with, "Public attitudes have shifted against Edward Snowden, with more than
half of Americans now supporting criminal charges against the former
security contractor who’s disclosed details of surveillance by the U.S.
National Security Agency." Out of the mouths of idiots.

So what's the reality?

As always, go to the raw data.
There you'll find the question: "A former government contractors named
Edward Snowden has released information to the media about
intelligence-gathering efforts by the U.S. National Security Agency. Do
you support or oppose Snowden being charged with a crime for disclosing
the NSA's intelligence-gathering efforts? Do you fell that way
strongly, or somewhat?"

First up, the question has changed since June. When you alter the
wording -- which they admittedly did (follow the note by the asterisk),
you can't claim you're measuring the same thing. So let's lose the
notion that the respondents in both polls are responding to the same
question. And since the new phrase is a charged one that benefits the
administration, let's really stop comparing the June and July results --
whores can continue to compare them because whores busy their bodies so
much that their minds never have time for actual thought.

The reality is 36% favor prosecution, 19% oppose it (in the case
outlined in the question). Somewhat? The case is known. If you have
an opinion on either side, you have a strong opinion, you have a firm
one. This story didn't just emerge yesterday. When you add the
somewhats you get 36%. That's the figure of people who feel they have
to give an answer but don't really have an opinion and they need to be
lumped in with the 11%. That gives you 47% of Americans have no
opinion.

If you think Ed's action warrant criminal prosecution, you have a strong
feeling. If you think (as I do) that Ed doesn't deserve to be
criminally prosecuted, you have a strong feeling. Those of us in the
two camps know where we stand. The 47% of Americans do not.

There are numerous reasons why Americans now feel more 'fogged' about
the issues involved than they did a month ago. This can include the
attacks from MSNBC as well as the near daily attacks by the State Dept
(I believe there have been only two State Dept press briefings that did
not demonize Ed) and by the White House. It can also include, and this
is probably the largest effect, the reports on Ed that divorced his
presence in Russia from the actual story (of revelations by him and the
government's demonization of him). I would also include a chunk in
there (small but significant) for China and Russia in terms of fears of
Americans that he's going to reveal state secrets to those two
governments. That's not going to happen and probably within six to
eight weeks that small chunk of people responding based upon that will
be an even smaller chunk and no longer significant.

We've taken on polls here since 2004. You can check our online record,
there are no mistaken interpretations here thus far. We've taken on
polls with results we agreed with as well as with results we opposed.
It has nothing to do with either (though I'm more inclined to explore a
poll whose 'reported' 'results' raise my eyebrows). The analysis above
is what the data says. People may like it or they may hate it but
that's the reality of the data. It's a real shame that common sense is
in such short supply at ABC where they try to run with a finding that's
both extreme and false. At least the Washington Post, running with the same finding, didn't lead with it.

I would further add that when taking responses in the United States, you
do so in the native tongue. If you're speaking -- as they were in
administering the poll (again, look at the raw data) -- in Spanish, I
think you're poll is clouded. Why? Because you're presenting this as a
national security issue, that's what your poll is doing. If a
respondents isn't comfortable responding in English, that usually means
they hail from another country. Asking a person who has immigrated
questions about national security in a host country can alarm the
respondent. This is a polling no-no. You do not know where the person
hails from, you do not know if they left their country of origin due to
safety concerns, you do not know how safe they feel their answers are,
you do not know if they are a resident who can be deported. Any of
these factors can result in a respondent giving a false response to a
poll on US national security issues and government spying. The entire
poll is flawed and those administrating it wasted everyone's money.

Crystal Park: Despite the major public uproar caused by Edward
Snowden's revelation the NSA is spying on Americans' phone records, the
Office of the Director of National Intelligence has announced the
controversial program has been renewed for another three months. Since
Snowden's bombshell, President Obama and other government
officials have defended the NSA program as a necessary tool to fight
terrorism. They have not, however, released the legal reasoning to
justify the surveillance, and energy is clearly building in Congress to
narrow its scope and challenge its legality.

Crystal Park discussed the issues with the ACLU's Patrick Toomey. Excerpt.Patrick Toomey: The fact that the NSA disclosed the extension of the
order, we think, was a self-serving strategy to show that the court has
not been shaken in its confidence and its reasoning in support of the
program and that it reauthorized the phone record collection of all
Americans' phone calls despite the public uproar that's followed Mr.
Snowden's disclosures. But I would note for the public that the NSA has
not yet revealed the legal reasoning that stands behind the program,
the court order is still secret that the FISA court has not released
that order to the public and, therefore, the public has no way of really
scrutinizing the legal interpretations that went into it.Crystal Park: Sure, the Americans are not going to know the nitty
gritty and the legality of the program but do you think that this is a
precedent that Edward Snowden has set just by revealing the fact that
the program exists and the NSA realizes that they have an angry public
to answer to? Do you think that, in one way, this is something good
that has come out of the revelation from Edward Snowden?

Patrick Toomey: We certainly think it's good that the public is
learning more. You know, it is unfortunate that the NSA's hand was
forced in this way and we don't believe that their commitment to
transparency goes anywhere beyond really what they view as mere
necessity in their management of public relations. They clearly do not
want to be having this discussion. They think that the debate over the
legality of this program should be off the table. We are glad that Mr.
Snowden has spurred this debate but we really hope that it will produce
much more transparency than just the NSA's disclosure that the program
itself has been extended. We really want the public to have an open
debate about the balance between national security and their liberties.
And that debate is still developing and still really needs to happen in
a public way.Crystal Park: So, Patrick I assume that you believe the only reason
why the NSA has come out to announce the program has extended is simply
because of what happened with Edward Snowden, otherwise they wouldn't
have done such a thing.Patrick Toomey: That's exactly right. I think that apart from that, it would not have come out.

Last night, the US House of Representatives had a chance to end the spying. They failed to do so. BBC News reports:

In a 205-217 vote, lawmakers rejected an effort to restrict
the National Security Agency's (NSA) ability to collect electronic
information.The NSA's chief had lobbied strongly against the proposed measure.The vote saw an unusual coalition of conservatives and liberal Democrats join forces against the programme.

A fact sheet on the amendment noted:The Amash-Conyers amendment ends NSA’s blanket collection of
Americans’ telephone records. It does this by requiring the FISA court
under Sec. 215 to order the production of records that pertain only to a
person under investigation.The amendment has three important practical effects. First,
it ends the mass surveillance of Americans. The government no longer is
authorized under Sec. 215 to hold a pool of metadata on every phone
call of every American. Second, the amendment permits the government to continue to acquire business records and other “tangible things” that are actually
related to an authorized counterterrorism investigation. The
government still has access to this tool under the amendment, but it’s
forced to comply with the intent of Congress when it passed Sec. 215. Third,
the amendment imposes more robust judicial oversight of NSA’s
surveillance. The FISA court will be involved every time NSA searches
Americans’ records, and the court will have a substantive, statutory
standard to apply to make sure the NSA does not violate Americans’ civil
liberties.What steps would the government take to collect records if the
Amash-Conyers amendment were enacted? The government would have to
provide facts to the FISA court to show that there are reasonable
grounds to believe that the records sought (1) are relevant to an
appropriately authorized national security investigation and (2) pertain
to the person (including any group or corporation) under
investigation. We know that the government can use that process effectively in its
investigations because it already does. Based on the government’s
public statements, it appears that the government routinely goes to the
FISA court for Sec. 215 orders for tangible things pertaining to persons
under investigation. If the government uses non-bulk collection for
other Sec. 215 orders, there is no good reason why the government needs
bulk collection of Americans’ telephone metadata.

Shaun Waterman (Washington Times) also notes the vote:Top intelligence officials from the Obama and Bush
administrations, along with senior House lawmakers from both parties,
succeeded Wednesday in heading off the first legislative challenge to
the domestic snooping program exposed by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.Arrayed against them was an equally odd cross-section of the political spectrum. Tea party
libertarian Republicans and Democratic civil rights advocates —
generally at odds — were united behind an amendment to a must-pass
defense spending bill that would defund the National Security Agency’s mass collection of Americans’ phone records.

The amendment was proposed by US House Rep Justin Amash and US House Rep John Conyers. Following the vote, Amash Tweeted this:

For a breakdown of the votes, click here.
94 Republicans voted for the Amendment, 111 Democrats voted for it (12
House members did not vote). Among the idiots voting for it? Corrine
Brown. The woman with the ugly wigs who can't even get them on
straight, the woman who can't speak functional English had a vote.
Shame on Florida's Fifth District for allowing that idiot to represent
them. When we called out Corrine (that got louder when she thought she
was going to be the new Ranking Member of the House Veterans Affairs
Committee) a few visitors e-mailed the public account to insist that she
had not done a 360 to whore for Barack. Yes, she has. She disgraced
herself making excuses for the VA when veterans were waiting for their
GI BIll checks -- she blamed the veterans, she blamed the colleges.
She's a disgrace. When Bully Boy Bush occupied the White House, she
couldn't stop complaining about illegal spying. Instead of defending
this idiot, you need to hold her accountable. She's voted for the Libyan War, she's voted to keep US troops in Afghanistan, go down the list. She's a joke and every time she opens her mouth, the entire country laughs at the Fifth District of Florida.

Of the vote, Jason Ditz (Antiwar.com) offers:The amendment failed, unfortunately, but the 205-217 vote showed that many in the House were willing to buck party leadership in favor of the American public’s demands to see the NSA powers curbed.Public [opinion] is overwhelmingly against the NSA’s surveillance, but
it takes a long time for it to trickle into the halls of Congress, and
even longer to find its way into the Senate. That the Amash Amendment
managed not only to get a hearing but to come within a hair’s breadth of
passing is an encouraging sign that public sentiment is starting to get
noticed on this issue.

QUESTION: Do you have any – do you have an update on Edward Snowden, anything new?

MS. HARF: I don’t have any update. It’s still our belief that he’s in
the transit lounge at the Moscow Airport, and nothing new on that.QUESTION: And the Senate bill that was passed yesterday about
getting the State Department to advise lawmakers on punishments for
asylum-seekers, where are you on that?MS. HARF: I don’t have anything for you on that, but I’m happy to look into it and get back to you.QUESTION: Thanks.

MS. HARF: Yes.

[. . .]

QUESTION: Can we have one on Snowden?MS. HARF: Yes.QUESTION: Yesterday, and I think even before the U.S. was
seeking clarity – I mean, how long does it take to seek clarity? Can we
get – did you get any clarity from the Russians about what they plan to
do?MS. HARF: Well, we’ve been in discussions through appropriate
channels, as you know, with the Russians on this. We continue to make
the point that he needs to be returned to the United States. I think the
clarity that Jen mentioned yesterday was in reference to his current
status, because yesterday when we were down here, there was a lot of
question if he was leaving or not. It is our belief, it is our
understanding, that he is still in the transit lounge of the airport.
So, yes, we do have clarity on that.QUESTION: And what is Russia’s intent?MS. HARF: I’m sorry?QUESTION: And do you know what Russia is saying that it wants to do? I mean, or is it telling you?MS. HARF: I’m not going to read out private diplomatic
conversations or speculate on what their intent is. We’ve made it clear
what our position is, that he needs to be returned to the United States
to face these charges as soon as possible.QUESTION: A quick follow-up on that?MS. HARF: Yes.QUESTION: I think the U.S. has given Russian citizens, about
2,500 Russian citizens, asylum automatically. I think the number for
China is, like, 40,000. These are numbers from the Justice Department.
Do you have some empathy with Moscow considering this case is deep as it
is, considering so many thousands of their nationals have been given
asylum here?MS. HARF: Well, what we said to the Russians is what we will
continue to say, that he is a U.S. citizen accused of very serious
felony charges. This – we’re not comparing this case to any other. He
needs to be returned to the United States, where he will be afforded a
free and fair trial.I would also underscore that we are asking Russia to build on our
cooperative history of working together on law enforcement issues,
particularly in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing. So we continue
to press this with the Russians, and will do so going forward.Yes.QUESTION: But there are two – specifically two Russians that
are considered – that Russia considers terrorists who came to the United
States. I believe they are Chechens. I gave the names – I’m sorry I
don’t have them right with me, but I gave them to the State Department
yesterday.MS. HARF: Okay.QUESTION: And they’re specifically saying that these guys are
terrorists, and the United States did not extradite them; therefore, why
do you expect us to extradite anyone back to you? So, could we get an
answer to that?MS. HARF: Let me double-check on the names. I know that you gave them to us, and I’ll check on where that stands.But again, we are not comparing this to any other case. We’ve been
clear with the Russians that he is a U.S. citizen wanted on very serious
charges here, and he needs to be returned to the United States. But I
can check on those, Jill. I know you gave those to us. I’ll check on
that for you.QUESTION: Yesterday, Jen mentioned that there were hundreds of
Russians who have been returned back to Moscow at their request, and I
asked for some more details. Do you have those details?MS. HARF: I don’t have any additional details for you on that today. I’m happy to provide them as we get them.QUESTION: And also, I thought yesterday the clarity that was
being sought was whether Russia had actually issued him with a document
that would allow him to leave the transit lounge.MS. HARF: I think what Jen said was that we were seeking
clarity on his current situation, because there were a lot of
conflicting reports about whether he had left or was leaving or was
looking for certain documents. Again, he is – remains in the lounge at
the airport, so we have clarity on where he is, and we will continue to
make our case with the Russians.QUESTION: Do you know whether Moscow has actually issued him with this document that would allow him to leave?MS. HARF: I don’t have any details on that for you.

AMYGOODMAN:
Well, let’s talk about the White House’s response to the release of
Shaye. Jeremy Scahill contacted the National Security Council for a
response. This is what the National Security Council spokesperson,
Bernadette Meehan wrote. She wrote, quote, "We are concerned and
disappointed by the early release of Abd-Ilah-Shai, who was sentenced by
a Yemeni court to five years in prison for his involvement with Al
Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula." Jeremy Scahill, talk about what they
have said.

JEREMYSCAHILL:
First of all, we should—we should let that statement set in. The White
House is saying that they are disappointed and concerned that a Yemeni
journalist has been released from a Yemeni prison. The White House is
citing his conviction, that he supposedly was a supporter of al-Qaeda,
in a kangaroo court, a court that was condemned by every major
international media freedom organization, every major international
human rights organization, that it was a total sham trial, where he was
kept in a cage during the course of his prosecution and was convicted on
trumped-up charges. So, Mr. Constitutional Law Professor President is
saying that this Yemeni court, that has been condemned by every
international human rights organization in the world, is somehow
legitimate.

Secondly, when I’ve asked the White House and
the State Department for a shred of evidence that Abdulelah Haider Shaye
was guilty of anything other than journalism, critical journalism, they
won’t provide it. They just say what they often do: "State secrets.
Trust us."

The fact is, Abdulelah Haider Shaye is a
journalist who did very critical interviews with people like Anwar
al-Awlaki. If you go back and you read his interviews with Awlaki, he’s
challenging him on his praise of the underwear bomb attempt, saying,
"But that was a plane full of civilians. How was that a legitimate
target?" In fact, I would put forward that Abdulelah Haider Shaye asked
more critical questions of figures within the al-Qaeda organization in
Yemen than a single member of the "Caviar Correspondents Association" in
the United States, those jokers who sit in the front row and pretend to
play journalists on television.

This was a man who was put in prison because
he had the audacity to expose a U.S. cruise missile attack that killed
three dozen women and children. And the United States had tried to cover
it up. They had the Yemeni government take responsibility for the
strikes. The U.S. role was not initially owned. They said that they had
blown up an al-Qaeda training camp. The reality was, women and children
were killed. And why do we know that? We know it for two reasons. One is
because Abdulelah Haider Shaye went to the scene, he took photographs
of what were clearly U.S. cruise missile parts with "General Dynamics"
on them, "Made in the United States" on them, and because of the
WikiLeaks cables showing that General David Petraeus, who at the time
was the CENTCOM commander, conspired with the
Yemeni dictator, Ali Abdullah Saleh, for the United States to begin
bombing Yemen in the form of drones and cruise—drone strikes and cruise
missile strikes and to have the Yemeni government publicly take
responsibility for it. So when Abdulelah Haider Shaye exposed this and
it became clear to the world that the Obama administration was starting
to bomb Yemen, he was abducted by Yemen’s U.S.-backed political security
forces. He was taken to a jail and beaten and told that if he continued
to report on the U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen, that he would be put
back in jail. He went straight from his beating onto the airwaves of Al
Jazeera and said, "I was just abducted by Yemen security forces, and
they threatened me." And then, some months later, his house was raided
in a night raid, and he was snatched and disappeared for 30 days. He was
then brought into a court that was set up specifically to prosecute
journalists who had committed crimes against the U.S.-backed
dictatorship and was sentenced to five years in that court.

So, my question for the White House would be:
You want to co-sign a dictator’s arrest of a journalist, beating of a
journalist, and conviction in a court that every human rights
organization in the world has said was a sham court? That’s the side
that the White House is on right now, not on the side of press freedom
around the world. They’re on the side of locking up journalists who have
the audacity to actually be journalists.

[. . .]

Yeah, I mean, look at this White House’s
position on whistleblowers and on journalists. You had the seizure of
the Associated Press phone records. You have record numbers of
prosecutions and indictments under the Espionage Act. You have what I
think amounts to a criminalization of independent reporting. This White
House seems intent on having the only information that journalists have
access to official leaks, when it is meant to make the White House look
noble and saving the world for peace, freedom and democracy. And any
independent reporting or talking to sources that are not official is
frowned upon, and at times prosecuted.

There was a recent court decision that I think is very disturbing. James Risen of The New York Times
has been ordered to testify against a source of his who was a
whistleblower. You have Bradley Manning’s trial coming to conclusion.
The charge against him of aiding the enemy boils down to an assertion
that anyone who provides information on the Internet, that then can be
read by a terrorist, is somehow aiding the enemy. They’re actually
contending that Bradley Manning, in leaking the diplomatic cables, aided
Osama bin Laden directly, because Osama bin Laden was reported to have
read some of the WikiLeaks cables. If that charge sticks, it should be
chilling not just for journalists, but for the public at large, in the
day of social media, when everyone is a journalist of sorts.

So, this administration has been utterly
shameful in its approach toward a free press, toward whistleblowers, and
it fundamentally undermines the notion that we have a free press in a
democratic society. The fact that they had a Yemeni journalist jailed in
a Yemeni court and kept him in prison there and are now deeply
concerned and upset that he’s been released speaks volumes about this
administration’s attitude toward journalists.

Shocking news was reported in Iraq today but there was no effort by the
US press to pick it up nor was there any effort to ask a single question
about Iraq in today's State Dept press briefing. Dar Addustour reported that certain elements of the Iraqi government (these would be
Nouri and pro-Nouri elements -- that goes unstated in the article) are
considering a six-point plan that these elements state will address the
rising violence and curtail it. The plan will do no such thing. What
it will actually do, if implemented, is inflame tensions even further
and cause the slow building civil war to erupt in raging flames. So
what's Nouri's plan?

Dissolve the Parliament, abolish the Constitution, declare martial law,
allow only Iraqi military forces (central Iraq -- this would eject the
Peshmerga from all non-KRG areas -- and it would overrule provincial
forces -- to the outrage of many), continue executions under emergency
law (this would bypass the approval currently required from the
presidency) and cut off all telecommunications and internet.

This is not a plan for stability. It is a plan to carry out mass
killings and to do so as far away from the world's eye as possible. And
the most shocking thing may be that the western press hasn't even noted
this report.

In this already tense climate, Mohammad Sabah (Al Mada) reports
that Parliament is contemplating what is being termed a government of
salvation which would call for the resignation of Nouri al-Maliki as
prime minister in an effort to reduce violence and to address the
political crises. The plan is said to be discussed by members of
Iraqiya, Moqtada al-Sadr's bloc and the Turkmen Front. All Iraq News reports
that Speaker of Parliament Osama al-Nujaifi is stating that a salvation
government is not possible and that, "The current government will not
resign because the remaining time of its term is very short. We need a
national agreement and to nominate the security ministers and to have a
transparent revelation of what is going on in the country."

Meanwhile, Kitabat reports
thousands are protesting in Basra today against the government, its
inability to provide security and the lack of public services. What
makes this especially news worthy is that Basra is predominately Shi'ite
(the non-Shi'ite population is less than 15% of the total population).
There have been ongoing protests against the government since December
21st but the worldwide press has repeatedly portrayed it as a "Sunni
protest." It has not been just Sunnis but it is harder to portray the
protest in Basra as "Sunni." Most likely, this protest is in response
to Moqtada al-Sadr's weekend remarks noting that people should be in the
streets protesting the lack of security and the failure of the
government to provide the basics.

Former Prime Minister Ibrahiam al-Jaafari spoke of Nouri today. Kitabat reports
he called out Nouri's recent verbal attacks on Moqtada and maintains
that Nouri's remarks are an effort to create a crisis which will help
distract from the two prison breaks this week. Alsumaria notes
that, in a press conference today, Speaker of Parliament al-Nujaifi
noted that a Parliamentary commission is investigating the prison breaks
and will have findings to release by this Sunday. Alsumaria also notes that the Human Rights Commission of Iraq is stating the prison breaks are a "disgrace" and a stain for Nouri. All Iraq News notes that Nouri is supposed to meet later today with Osama al-Nujaifi.

TEMPLE-RASTON: AQI, al-Qaida in Iraq, took credit for this week's
prison attacks. And that's Bruce Hoffman, a counterterrorism expert at
Georgetown University. He says al-Qaida's arm in Iraq has been staging a
comeback for months. [. . .] Hoffman says the latest prison break was exceptionally well-planned.

HOFFMAN:
The stereotype is that terrorists attack, you know, innocent civilians,
soft accessible targets. When you're hitting a prison, you're talking
about - at least in theory - one of the most hardened target sets within
a country. And when you could hit two of them simultaneously and
successfully, that's very worrisome.

TEMPLE-RASTON: Worrisome
not just because of the sophistication of the attacks, but also because
the prison breaks provided the group with hundreds of new recruits.

MYRIAM
BENRAAD: I'm Myriam Benraad. I'm research fellow in Middle East studies
at Science Po Paris Center for International Research and Studies.

TEMPLE-RASTON:
Benraad has been writing about Iraqi prisons for nearly a decade, and
she says this operation is a little different from what happened in
Yemen, because this time, the men who escaped were ordinary recruits.BENRAAD:
They're mostly Salafists, some of them known for being former
insurgents. There's no real figure, high-level figure of al-Qaida in the
prisons.

In other (or possibly related) news, Dar Addustour reports
that State of Law's Haider al-Abadi and Citizen bloc MP Aziz Okkaily
got into a physical altercation in Parliament on Wednesday.

Yesterday, the United Nations noted:The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI)
until 31 July 2014 so it can continue to advise and support the
country, which has been hit by the worst violence in years, to progress
on the path to stability and development.
In a unanimously adopted resolution, the 15-member body also called on
the Government of Iraq to continue to provide security and logistical
support to the Mission, and on Member States to continue to provide it
with sufficient resources.
Further, the Council decided that the Secretary-General’s Special
Representative for Iraq and UNAMI shall continue their mandate with
regard to overseeing outstanding issues relating to Iraq’s 1990 invasion
of Kuwait.
The mandate renewal comes amid an upsurge in violence and terrorist acts
that have targeted mainly civilians and civilian infrastructure in
Iraq, resulting in high civilian casualties at levels not seen since
2008, according to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s latest report on UNAMI.